The Most Rev Justin Welby was giving evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) investigation into the Church of England on Thursday.

He has featured heavily in evidence over the last nine days as the head of the Anglican Church and has faced accusations of failing to sanction bishops accused of committing or failing to report child sexual abuse.

One survivor, Rev Matthew Ineson, previously criticised Mr Welby and the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu for failing to act after he disclosed being abused as a teenager by a priest.

Mr Ineson told the inquiry: “I cannot see the face of Jesus in the Archbishop of Canterbury or York.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury consistently takes no further action and, to me, therefore, condones all these actions.”

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Welby said that although he was the head of the Church of England, he had no direct power but “influence” over the other bishops.

“It is hard to say where influence moves into power and control, I have the power to suspend,” he said.

Fiona Scolding QC, counsel for the inquiry, asked the archbishop to explain why all but six safeguarding complaints against bishops were dismissed or had no action taken last year.

After he was asked if bishops got an “easy ride”, Mr Welby replied: “My honest answer is I don’t believe so, but I would say that, wouldn’t I.

“I am not likely to…

Thomas Orchard, 32, died in hospital seven days after being arrested and taken to Heavitree Road police station in Exeter, Devon, in October 2012.

During his detention, the church caretaker who had mental health issues was restrained and an emergency response belt (ERB) was placed across his face for five minutes and two seconds to prevent spitting or biting.

In a landmark conviction in 2018, the office of the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police pleaded guilty to breaches under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

A judge at Bristol Crown Court ruled he could not be sure that the ERB, a tough webbing belt designed to restrain limbs, was a contributory factor in Mr Orchard’s death.

He fined the force £234,500 and ordered it to pay £20,515 in prosecution costs.

At that time, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that arrangements were being made for misconduct hearings to be held by Devon and Cornwall Police.

The police watchdog had previously confirmed that a sergeant, two detention officers and three police constables would face a hearing.

On Thursday, a notice on the Devon and Cornwall Police’s website said that the preliminary misconduct hearing relating to “the circumstances surrounding the arrest, detention and subsequent death of Thomas Orchard” was heard in private.

This took place at the force’s headquarters in Exeter between June…

The health ministry said the man who had arrived earlier on Sunday in the regional capital had been quickly transported to an Ebola treatment centre.

Authorities said they had tracked down all the passengers on the bus the man took to Goma from Butembo, one of the towns hardest hit by the disease.

“Because of the speed with which the patient was identified and isolated, and the identification of all the other bus passengers coming from Butembo, the risk of it spreading in the rest of the city of Goma is small,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The virus has killed more than 1,600 people in Congo and two others who returned home across the border to neighbouring Uganda.

Health experts have long feared that it could make its way to Goma, which is located on the Rwandan border.

The health ministries in Congo’s neighbours have been preparing for months for the possibility of cases, and frontline health workers already have been vaccinated.

The confirmed case announced late on Sunday in eastern Congo involves a pastor who became ill last Tuesday.

He then left Butembo on a bus, and arrived at a health centre on Sunday showing symptoms of Ebola, the health ministry said.

Violent attacks against health workers and treatment facilities have greatly compromised efforts to combat the epidemic in Butembo.

Eastern Congo is home to a myriad of armed groups, and Mai…

The £9.3m national mental health programme aims to bridge the gap between schools and colleges and NHS services.

Pupils struggling with mental health are to benefit from more joined up care and support across schools, colleges and specialist NHS services, in a national roll out of a £9.3 million training scheme.

Every school, college and alternative provision will be offered training through a series of workshops as part of the Link Programme, with the most appropriate member of staff from each put forward to take part, alongside mental health specialists.

This is designed to improve partnerships with professional NHS mental health services, raise awareness of mental health concerns and improve referrals to specialist help when needed.  The Anna Freud National Centre will lead the four-year scheme for Children and Families, backed by the multi-million-pound government investment.

Starting in September, the training will be rolled out to schools and colleges in phases over four years, being offered to up to 22,000 schools and colleges, including alternative provision settings.

The Link Programme will deliver just under 1,000 training sessions across England involving two whole-day workshops for up to 20 schools at a time to cover all 22,000 schools, encouraging collaborative work, so children do not fall between the cracks or experience poor transition between…

CSW, together with Human Rights Concern Eritrea urged members of the Human Rights Council (HRC) to renew the annual mandate made by the Eritrean Special Rapporteur (an independent expert assigned to report back on a country’s human rights record) after growing concerns that recommendations to prevent human rights violations were being ignored.

In a letter to the UN, the campaign groups highlighted the rise of persecution Christians and other religious minorities continue to face in the region, to which the HRC responded: “It is imperative that the Human Rights Council renews the Special Rapporteur’s mandate this week. A failure to do so out of political expediency would damage the reputation of the world’s premier human rights body irreparably.”

The decision to uphold the mandate is only the first step in bringing peace to Eritrea, according to CSW’s UN advisor Ms Denman.

Speaking to Premier she said: “The human rights situation in Eritrea is so severe and we are very delighted that a number of countries, some of whom we weren’t sure would support the resolution, which renews the mandate of the expert but have.

“What we do need to see is increased pressure on the country. So this new resolution not only renews the mandate, but also calls for Eritrea to cooperate fully with that mandate holder and the rest of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,…